Froome injured in early crash

Defending champion Chris Froome was nursing a wrist injury as the Tour de France resumed in northern France on Tuesday following an early crash on stage four.

The Briton had been hoping for an incident-free day ahead of Wednesday's cobbled route from Ypres to Arenberg Porte du Hinaut, which could shake up the general classification, but fell six kilometres into the 163.5km stage from Le Touquet-Paris-Plage to Lille.

The Team Sky leader, who began the day in fifth overall after three stages in the UK, suffered a grazed left hip and torn cycling shorts after a touch of wheels in the peloton.

He swiftly found his feet and was taken back to the main group by team-mates Bernhard Eisel and David Lopez, with superficial wounds and a sore wrist.

Froome crashed during June's Criterium du Dauphine, damaging his left side, but it was too early to determine the full impact of the latest blow to the same side.

He will be assessed in full at the conclusion of the day's stage after this afternoon visiting the official race vehicle's medical car for attention from a doctor for running repairs.

His wrist was the main concern and team-mate Vasili Kiryienka was given a splint from the team car for Froome's use.